A two-day strike is looming with nurses rejecting the latest pay rise offer, which Labour has described as the best they've had in more than a decade. Teachers are also considering industrial action, with meetings being held around the country to decide on a course of action.

"Rather than getting that fuel into the combustion chamber, and having it exploding off and driving in the direction they want it to drive, it's backfiring - they are suffering from backfire," Richardson said of the Government.

National MP Judith Collins made similar criticisms of the Government on Friday after Finance Minister Grant Robertson told The AM Show there's no more money left to offer nurses who have rejected the Government's latest offer.

Richardson said Ms Collins made "an important point" about "what's happening currently".

"[The Government's] intervention is not driving us in the direction that they want," he said.

The AM Show host Duncan Garner suggested the Government's strategy could become more "finely tuned" after three or four years and "take off", considering it's a new Government that's still getting its feet.

But Richardson said even if the Government does manage its finances effectively and thrive, there is no one to lead it.

"Who's at the wheel?" he said, in light of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern having her baby on Thursday and officially taking maternity leave.

However, New Zealand isn't exactly left leaderless. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters became Acting Prime Minister the moment Ms Ardern went into labour.